What happens in the blink of an eye can become a moment which forever defines a life. A few defining moments took place on June 12, 2016. These moments have already forever changed lives. The impact will ring through the ears of the victims and their family members & friends for eternity. Time froze, & most of us, will never be the same.
As I glued my eyes & heart to CNN, I watched in horror. It was just 7am, & the news I was absorbing was incomprehensible.
"Was it terrorism? Was it a hate crime? Maybe it was both. Well, really... What's the difference? Hate & terrorism are 1 in the same." All of these moments were sad, but for me, the saddest moment involved a young man.
He had blond hair, & he was so choked up, he had trouble getting his words out. He had lost the best friend he ever had. The nightmare began. "Was it the music? No, it was gun shots!" The 2 friends started out the door, one behind the other. The blond guy was first. When he looked
back, his friend wasn't there. "What? Where was he?" Now hours had gone by, & the tearful young man had no word from the best friend he ever had. As he sniffled & cried, he said, "I guess in a situation like this, you do what you have to do?"
But, now he was second guessing himself. "Where was his friend? Why hadn't he heard from him?" He hadn't gotten to the fact that a hate crime had been committed. I'm not sure if he knew the shots came from the gun of a terrorist who was on the FBI Watch List. No... He was just heartbroken & confused.
As I watched him on my TV, I began to tremble. My eyes welled up. I was already shaken from the News. As the day went on, the awful truth slowly began to unravel. TERRORISM. HATE. LGBT. Those were the 3 words I kept hearing. I saw broken, hurting faces. I saw people. I didn't see LGBT. No, I heard TERRORISM. I heard HATE. I saw people who genuinely hurt . These hurting souls I saw may have been LGBT, but not to me. That didn't matter. They were people who hurt just like you & me. They needed comfort, not judgement, not silence... just comfort.
